Inner Demons
by jayeM
Summary: What if in 'Get It Done' Buffy was made to accept the power of the demon?


Buffy:tVS and Angel:tS and all characters, situations, etc are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and other people who aren't me. They are just being borrowed and will be returned unharmed. The souled vamp boys may have been chewed on a little, but they'll heal by morning.

Feedback! Feedback is of the good!

Based on "Get It Done" (Buffy season 7, episode 15). Buffy is sent to meet the ones who created the First Slayer. Picks up from Buffy waking up in the cave and breaks off from canon there. Theory: What if Buffy didn't fight off the demon? What if she was made to accept the power shown her by the shamen?

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First, there was the earth  
Then there came the demons  
After demons, there came men  
Men found a girl  
The men took the girl  
   to fight all demons  
They chained her to the earth  
  
and then they did it again...

+------------------------------+  
 Inner Demons: Chapter 1  
 Getting It Done  
 by jayM  
+------------------------------+

Buffy woke up, slowly. She was in a place that didn't look familiar at all, it was...a cave? "What is this?" She stood quickly only to find that her arms were chained to the natural stone floor with just enough slack to let her stand. Three African men surrounded her, speaking in what could have been Swahili, but she could still understand them all the same. Totally weird.

"Now we are at the beginning." "The source of your strength. The well of the slayer's power." "This is why we have brought you here."

Buffy interrupted. "I thought I brought me here. L-look, listen you guys, I'm already the Slayer. Bursting with power- really don't need any more."

The shaman just looked annoyed. "The first slayer did not talk so much."

Buffy rolled her eyes and tested her chains- they were strong, but were they strong enough?

The three men started pounding the butts of their staffs on the stone floor together. They built a sort of rhythm, it echoed in the cavern, and seemed almost to gain a life of its own.

Buffy jerked in effectually on her chains as one of the men brought forward a box and removed its lid. "Herein lies your truest strength." "The energy of the demon. It's spirit." "It's heart." 

Buffy looked apprehensive. They weren't gonna do what she though they were gonna do...were they? "This is how you-"

"Created the slayer? Yes." A black, inky shadow slithered up out of the box, absorbing the light around it. "It must become one with you."

"No!" the Slayer almost grunted, pulling against her bonds. Becoming one with a demon was badness. She had been trying to avoid it for a long time.

"This will make you ready for the fight."

Buffy couldn't believe the nerve of those guys. "By making me less human?"

"This is how it was then. How it must be now." "This is all there is."

With that the darkness attacked Buffy, searching for a weak point. She tried to struggle away, tried to break her tether, tried to do something than just stand there. But the chains were secure. She tried jerking her head back from the shadow's touch, but it kept coming at her. It slithered into her nostrils and ears. She could feel the coldness creeping across her senses, smothering her, blinding her, deafening her. She needed to fight- she couldn't let this thing take control of her. She drew breath to scream but the darkness filled her lungs. She could feel the coolness as it traveled through her veins, as it wrapped around her mind, as it violated her in a way that nothing else could. Soon all she could feel was ice, in her veins and lungs.

Then, slowly, the coldness receded, replaced by unpleasant warmth, which slowly built into a fiery pain. She could feel something happening, something changing. She was changing, being remolded by the spirit of the demon. She could feel the power coursing through her, laden with darkness. She could feel her skin reforming, her bones and joints and organs shifting. She could hear the shadow in her mind, telling her of her new potential. And then, suddenly, it stopped. She could breathe again. But as she did, she noticed that something about the air had changed. The scents were stronger, she could almost taste it, feel its texture on the back of her throat. 

Buffy Summers snapped open her eyes, and warily regarded the shaman across from her.

"What did you do to me?" she growled.

***

Spike dug through the boxes. So she wanted the old Spike back then? Well, who was he to deny the lady? Bitch was gonna get what she asked for. Where was it? There- shiny supple leather, black as sin on the darkest night. He shook it out and pulled it on. Cor, it felt good, felt like old times over his black shirt and jeans again. The Big Bad was back and he had some business to see to. He strode down the hall of the school, coat flapping in his wake like the wings of a raven. 

But definitely not in a poncy, Dark Avenger way.

Principle Wood leaned against a doorframe up ahead. "Where you going?" he asked.

"Got a job."

"Nice coat. Where'd you get it?"

"New York," rolled across his tongue, heavy with memories, and then Spike was gone. 

He didn't turn back to see the look in the Principle's eyes, the way his jaw clenched in response as the human recalled memories of his own. Memories that were surprisingly similar to the vampire's.

***

Power swirled around her, whipping her hair into her magic-blackened eyes. Willow stumbled over the unfamiliar Latin, it never having been her strong point. She scowled. She had the power, she knew what to do and the stupid, outdated traditions were going to make her mess it up! It was ridiculous. Maybe it made sense to do it this way when everyone spoke the language, but it was the twenty-first century now and the Ultimate Powers were just going to have to get with the times. After mangling another verb, she decided change was for the better.

"Screw it! Might Forces, I suck at Latin, okay? But that's not the issue- I'm the one in charge and I'm telling you to open a portal, now!"

Xander was worried for his friend. This was turning out to be bigger mojo than he'd signed on for, he didn't know if his best bud could take it and still stay on this sane. Maybe they shouldn't do this; it didn't even seem to be working. "It's not happening Wills-"

Kennedy interrupted him, confidante in the witch's power. "Give her time, she's getting it!"

It was just a matter of power- of twisting things to her will, but she was out of practice, weak. She needed more power.

"Or something's getting her. I'm thinking you better back up a little-"

Willow threw back her arms and pulled the energy she needed from the strongest around her. Anya and Kennedy, dropped to their knees as a portal finally formed. Xander rushed in and hauled the young witch from the barrier circle that had surrounded her, hoping that she hadn't gone too far.

***

Spike's demon roared as he got slammed into the wall by the big tusked demon. Now this was more like it! He'd missed this, the fighting, the scrapping. 

_I'll take a good brawl any day._

He'd played neutered lapdog to the Slayer for too long- it was high time the he got let out and William'd just have to take a seat for awhile. He got thrown into a stack of crates. Again. He was gonna have the loveliest set of bruises when this was over. But no need for tall, dark and ugly to know that. 

"Oh some on now nancy, call yourself a demon? Up for a proper fight?"

He got ducked under a right hook but was caught by the follow up with the left. 

"Now we're talking!"

This guy was really strong- definitely a match for the vampire, but that's what made it interesting. 

_Don't you ever get tired of fights you know you're going to win?_

He gestured to the demon- yeah, that's right, let's play, mate. Let's go at it, just you and me. No chip, no slayer, just two demons in an alley. Spike threw back his head and howled. 

This was the way it should be, just fists and fangs.

***

"What did you do to me?" Buffy growled at the shamen.

"What must be done."

Buffy yanked at her chains again. My, they didn't seem as secure now. "No, you didn't have to do this. There could have been a different way. There's always another way. But this was easiest, for you. You're just a bunch of cowards, hiding behind little girls." She narrowed her eyes. "I don't like cowards." with that, she pulled hard on her chains, feeling them give. They decided to make her stronger? Fine. Let's see how they deal with that strength. 

She ripped her bonds out of the earth and swung them at the man on her right. He raised his staff to defend, but it was too late. He caught the chain in his side and was flung against the cave wall. The man on her left raised his staff, looking like he was going to cast a spell. The chain trick worked just as well for him and he was sent against the wall opposite his comrade. That left just the one in front of her, who just watched as she smiled and advanced.

***

Spike smashed into another stack of crates. How many of those things were there in this alley? He'd been landing in 'em all night. Surprised he hadn't been accidentally staked by the wooden debris. 

He laughed. Musta been hit in the head too many times. It was time to end this; he needed to get Buffy back. He let the demon pick him up by the neck and shove him up against the wall. Almost gently, he reached for ugly's head and twisted it, snapping the neck and killing it. 

Spike was dropped the few inches back to the ground as the body fell over into a heap. The vampire searched his pockets for his smokes. 

"I don't know your feelings big guy." There, found 'em. And matches too. "But to me, tussle like that-" He leaned down, lighting a match on one of the creature's tusks and dropping gameface at the same time. Lit his cigarette and drew on it, savoring the moment. "It's good for the soul."

***

Buffy sauntered towards the last shaman, stopping just in front of him. "And then there was one," she drawled. "So- you did it. Again. Forced power upon a girl to save your worthless hide. But this girl, she can fight back. I didn't want this power, but now I have it, and I'm thinking it's time for me to leave. So unless you've got something useful to show me, you'd better send me home. Now."

The shaman just looked at her, see under dictionary for calm. Buffy was getting annoyed. She could feel all this power, all this energy, roiling under the surface, singing under her skin, wanting to get out. And if this old guy didn't make with the ruby slippers then he was gonna get a crash course in Pissed-Off Slayer 101.

There- action. He slowly raised his right hand and placed two fingers o her forehead. She looked into his eyes as he smiled, just before the world lit up in a flash.

***

Battered and bruised, but triumphant, Spike drug the demon's corpse into the living room, to the waiting portal. The assembled girls watched as he maneuvered the body around and pushed it through the shimmering gate. 

The light swirled then suddenly drew into itself, until it was gone. In its place stood a weary-looking figure, one very different from the person who had first gone through the portal.

"Slayer?"

"Buff?" 

"Buffy?" 

"Oh, goddess. Buffy!"

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Grr! Argh!  
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Next: Just what effect did the demon's spirit have on Buffy? How will the Scoobies react? Why is Andrew going to the pet store?

*****

jayM:  
Here we go. Chapter one of my first Fanfiction.net post. Eep! Review- please! I can't become a better writer unless I know what people like and don't like, so hack and slash and (hopefully) praise away!


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